Damp help

[Judi_374383919]

Hi,

Just got our very first caravan and having been told it had no damp sadly we have discovered it in face has quite a bit.

The worst area is the bottom right corner at the front of the caravan under the seat.

So my question to all you experienced people whats the best way of preventing this from getting worse?

I have now used sealant around all windows, joints and on a couple of "iffy" spots but I am not sure if this is enough. Do I need to do anything to the underside of the caravan? Is there anything I can use on the inside?

Thanks

Judi

 

[Damian]

Judi, just how bad is the damp?

Did you buy from a dealer or privately?

How old is the van?

It is doubtful that just putting sealer around windows will do any good at all, what kind of sealer did you use?

The "iffy" bits,what exactly?

If it is under the seats, are there windows above? if so, then it will almost certainly need new window rubbers, it could also be the awning rail causing the problem, or both.

Depending just how bad it is determines what you can or cannot do.

If the wall boards are damaged in any way, feeling "rough" or pimply, or soft, then the wood underneath has rotted and it needs taking apart and rebuilding with new wood and boards.

You really need a damp check to determine the extent and severity of the damp.

 

[PaulHull]

Once the water's in - it's in. It can take years to rear it's ugly head unfortunately. My last van had some quite severe damp in its back end and I was quite nervous about repairing it myself but after a dig around on this site I managed to sort it for about 100 quid and about 6 hours work.

The van was old and not worthy of any serious cash input so I silicone sealed every gap, join and screw on the outside which was effective in stopping the water from getting in but started to fail after a year and needed replacing (you should really remove all rails and reseal correctly but in an old van where you are trying to wring a bit more life out of it some sealant is fine - cue the people who will tell you otherwise).

I then removed the seats (simple task of unscrewing) ripped out the wallboard (the damp bits came off by hand - the remainder I chiselled off), replaced the rotten timbers, re-packed with polystyrene and applied new wallboard (glue n screw).

After a year it was still solid and bone dry so I was happy (until I smashed the van up by accident but that's another story).

Most of the stuff's self-explanatory once you get going and I'd say go for it - you'r vans knackered anyway so you have nothing to lose.

One note tho - if you have to disconnect and serious wiring or even touch the gas - get an expert in.

Do a search in google for 'Caravan Damp Repair' - it's full of good info.

Hope this helps!